Hollow vane shear

ABSTRACT

A device for cutting to length, by shearing, material known in the sheet metal and air conditioning trades as &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;hollow turning vanes&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and which device employs a wedge shaped, sharply pointed blade to enter and pierce the top side of the vane without undue distortion and a bottom blade unit having a pair of spaced blades conforming to the bottom contour of the vane with means for forcing the upper blade into and through the bottom blade unit thereby shearing the vane with guides for the blade and clamp means for holding the vane in position during cutting also being provided. The device includes length adjustment means to control the length of the vane being cut and an automatic switching device to initiate the action of the various elements which switching device is automatically shiftable after initiating the operation such that the cut vane will not be held after cutting and will be free to drop from the device.

United States Patent [1 1 Tracy Dec. 11, 1973 HOLLOW VANE SHEAR [76]Inventor: John William Franklin Tracy, 1820 Fremont Ave. North,Minneapolis, Minn. 55411 22 Filed: Apr. 5, 1972 21 Appl.No.:241,343

[52] US. Cl 83/212, 83/282, 83/372, 83/268, 83/391, 83/467, 83/636 [51]Int. Cl B26d 5/28, 826d 5/38, B26d 7/16 [58] Field of Search 83/212,282, 372, 83/380, 390, 391, 268,467 A, 524, 636

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,607,074 8/1952 Slaughter83/210 X 3,426,631 2/1969 Sandberg 83/212 X 1,964,457 6/1934 Diamond83/636 2,387,650 10/1945 Davis 83/212 X 2,572,137 10/1951 Grieder...83/210 2,327,920 8/1943 Moohl 83/380 2,144,335 1/1939 Jensen et a1.83/210 Primary ExaminerWillie G. Abercrombie Att0rney.James R. Cwayna[57] ABSTRACT A device for cutting to length, by shearing, materialknown in the sheet metal and air conditioning trades as hollow turningvanes and which device employs a wedge shaped, sharply pointed blade toenter and pierce the top side of the vane without undue dist0rtion and abottom blade unit having a pair of spaced blades conforming to thebottom contour of the vane with means for forcing the upper blade intoand through the bottom blade unit thereby shearing the vane with guidesfor the blade and clamp means for holding the vane in position duringcutting also being provided. The device includes length adjustment meansto control the length of the vane being cut and an automatic switchingdevice to initiate the action of the various elements which switchingdevice is automatically shiftable after initiating the operation suchthat the cut vane will not be held after cutting and will be free todrop from the device.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED [1E6] 1 I973 3.771.603 SHEE 1 BF 4NJUHRN PAIENIEDBEc 1 1 I975 3.771603 SEES 3 EF 4 5 FIG.5

FIG.7

FIGQ6' PAIENIEDHEB H mm 3777.503

Q 54 I56 0 25 CW 60 V/ 540 56 S UPPLY FIG.8

FIG.9

HOLLOW VANE SHEAR Hollow turning vanes are well understood in the art ofheating and air conditioning andthese vanes are devices that are formedfrom two individual sheets of material joined at their lateraledgeswhereinthe first inner sheet is provided with a first radius andthe second sheet arranged therebehind is provided with a second radiussuch that a space is provided betweenthe sheets. The concept of such avane is that at the corners of duct work the cross sectional area of theduct is obviously greater than that in the straight 'line portion of theduct and the insertion of these vanes not only reduces the crosssectional air flow area but also turns the air flowing therethroughsmoothly around the corner.

In the past these vanes have normally been cut through a sawing processand when cutting such a structure much distortion of the two surfacesmay result and a smooth cut is not achieved. The time of such sawing isalso relatively great in comparison with applicants concept and with thelabor costs as they presently exist this time consuming situation is ofextreme importance.

With applicants concept, a shearing unit is provided which willeffectively shear both of the surfaces forming a hollow vane while thevane is held in aposition to retain its desired and preformed shape.Applicants device then may be said to substantially eliminate anydistortion of the member during the shearing process.

Applicants device is further arranged for automatic operation andcontinuous sizing operation by providing a first operation initiatingswitch member adjustably arrangeable with respect to the cutting bladesuch that the length of the piece to be cut may be preset and thereafterwhen the raw material is fed thereagainst the switch will be tripped andthe cutting process initiated FIG. 3 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partial front elevation illustrating the unit in a solidline non-cutting position and a dotted line follow through or cuttingposition;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along Line 5-5 of FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially along Line 6-6 ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates an enlarged portion of FIG. 6 particularly the bladeguide portion thereof;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration ofa pneumatic control system for thedevice; and,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a hollow vane for which the cutter isdesigned.

In accordance with the accompanying drawings applicants main cuttingunit is generally designated 10.

and while this cutting process is being carried on, this same switchmember will be moved away from contacting position with the material tobe cut such that after cutting the material is not in a clamped relationto the unit and is free to fall from the shearing and cutting device.

It is therefore an object of applicants invention to provide a shearingdevice for hollow vanes which includes a shearing member arranged topierce and cut 7 through both sections of a hollow vane withoutproviding or producing any distortion thereof.

It is a further object of applicants invention to provide a hollow vanecutter having a first operation initiating switch member which switchmember may be set to cut predetermined lengths of the hollow vane.

It is a further object of applicants invention to pro vide a hollow vanecutter or the like having a first switch member arranged to initiate aclamping and cutting action upon a hollow vane and during this clampingand cutting action to be removed from contact with the vane such thatafter cutting and shearing of the vane the vane is free to drop from theunit. These and other objects and advantages of applicants device willmore fully appear from the following description made in connection withthe accompanying drawings wherein like referencecharacters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which;

FIG. I is a side elevation of a cutting device embodying the conceptsofapplicants invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

A support frame including downwardly extending legs 11 are arranged toelevate the device and longitudinal 12 andtransverse frame elements 13are provided to connect the vertical support members 11 and form a rigidmounting for the unit. Obviously such a frame can be easily constructedand the frame elements are not totally important to the subject matterof the invention. The invention basically includes a cutting head devicedesignated in its entirety 14, a front clamping and material entrancedevice 15 and a length adjustment and initiating portion 16.

The cutting head portion 14 includes a pair of vertical support members17, 18 and a top transverse support member 19 to provide a frame workwhich extends vertically through the afore mentioned support frame workand second vertical guiding support members 20, 21 are providedinteriorly of the side supports l7, l8 and these members provide atracking system for a guillotine type blade movement for the cuttingunit. The

moveable cutting portion arranged within and on the guides 20, 21includes a pair of side support struts 22, 23 which are designed to ridein the afore mentioned guide members 20, 21 and these struts extend froma horizontal blade attachment plate 24 downwardly to a horizontalconnecting element 25 which connecting element is in turn connected tothe ram portion 26 of a hydraulic cylinder or the like 27. Uponactuation of the cylinder 27 the rod 26 will be retracted therein andpull this frame work consisting of side elements 22, 23 and horizontalelements 24, 25 downwardly.

Attached to the upper horizontal element 24 is acutting blade designated30 which blade 30, in the form shown, is particularly formed for bothpiercing and cutting actions. A sharp piercing tip is provided and theblade tapers transversely outwardly therefrom to a decrease in suchtaper which decrease occurs, for example as at 30a, which wouldcorrespond to the width of the vane to be cut. The concept here is thatthe vane includes folded over portions at the edges thereof and a slowercutting action is required to move and shear through the doublethickness at these edge portions. The blade then smoothly curvesbackwardly from this reduced tapered portion and the total thickness ofthe blade and the distance between the guide arms 22, 23 is arranged toprovide cutting of vanes which are of various widths. v

The blade is not sharpened to a point in other than its frontaldimension and basically a shearing action rather than a slicing actionof this blade is obtained thereby.

In order to more perfectly guide the path of the blade 30, a pair ofroller members 31, 32 are provided on either side of the blade such thatthe blade will be held in vertical registration with a bottom blade orcutting area which backs up and holds the vane in cutting position.

This bottom blade assembly is as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4,substantially V-shaped and is designated in its entirty on these twofigures as 35. This bottom blade area includes support blocks 36, 37having hardened cutting elements 38, 39 secured on the upper surfacethereof, and .as illustrated in FIG. 7, these support blocks andhardened cutting elements are arranged on both sides of the blade 30such that the vane which is designated V will be supported during theshearing action on both sides of the sheared portion. As particularlyillustrated in FIG. 7, the back up support members 36, 37 are spaced atone dimension from each other on opposite sides of the blade while theactual cutting elements 38, 39 are arranged relatively closer to theblade 30 such that the blade 30 may pass therethrough but the concept ofspacing the back up elements 36, 37 a greater distance is to insure thatthe slug of material being sheared from the vane by this shearing actionwill not lodge therebetween and prevent movement of the blade 30.

The clamping section designated includes a vane supporting section 40which is substantially V-shaped and is supported on the various framework portions of the device and extends outwardly of the device apredetermined distance such that a substantial length of the vaneinserted therein will be supported. Between this support section 40 andthe blade a clamping device is arranged and includes a pistion andcylinder member 41 mounted on a support bracket 42 which extendshorizontally across the machine to be again supported on frame workportions thereof with the piston 43 extending vertically therethrough toa clamping element 44 which clamping element again extends horizontallyacross the unit and is guided for movement in a plane to maintain suchplanar arrangment such that upon actuation of the cylinder 41 theclamping element 44 will move downwardly to contact the vane andproperly hold it against the bottom cutting blades 38, 39. For thisreason it is obvious that the support section must be spaced from thecutting blade such that this clamping element 44 is free to movedownwardly and clamp between itself and these cutting blades. Thisclamping and support device is arranged for receiving various sizes ofvanes and when cutting the large size vanes a curved support member willbe received into the supporting section 40 to provide a back up for suchlarger size vanes.

The length adjustment device generally designated 16 includes a trackmember having a groove 51 formed therein such that a T-member will slidesmoothly in the track and which T-member is further provided with atightening handle 52 for proper positioning thereof along the track 50.Extending down from this T-shaped member is a piston mounting framework53 that is obviously moveable therewith and mounted on such framework isa first piston cylinder member 54 which extends therethrough and has onits actuating rod 55 an actuating switch member 56. This entire unit ismoveable along the rails 50 and a scale 57 is provided thereon with anindicator 58 attached to the moveable portions such that the length fromthe actuatinsertion of a vane into the cutting area and against theactuating switch 56 the clamping device 15 and the cutting action of thecutting head 14 will be initiated. Upon initiation of the clamping andcutting a bleed off of the pressure in the cylinder 54 holding theswitch 56 in normally extended position will occur and upon thispressure drop an internal spring will retract the switch 56 rearwardlysuch that the only means left holding the vane is the clamp element 15.Therefore after cutting of the vane, the cut portion is free to dropfrom the cutting area as there is no holding force being applied theretoby the switch 56, piston 54 combination. Upon completion of this cut anddropping of the cut vane, the switch 56 will be shifted into itsactuating extended position.

In order to further control the various actions of the cutting head andclamping portions a pair of vertically spaced switching valve elements60, 61 are arranged in position to be tripped by the movement of theblade supporting framework. In the form shown a switch contacting device2521 is arranged on the side of the bottom horizontal support 25 and asthe cutting framework moves upwardly and downwardly tripping of thesetwo valves 60, 61 will occur. In order to coordinate all of thesecontrol functions and the various pistons a valve member 65 is arrangedon the frame.

The schematic diagram is designed for an air supply but it should beobvious that various other systems could be utilized to accomplish theoperation of applicants device. As illustrated, valve 56 is a three waypilot valve which is normally closed and which is utilized to initiatethe action of the device. As the vane strikes the actuating lever 56athereof it is shifted to open position and supply air flows therethroughto shift the position of the double, pilot operated four-way valve 65.This shifting will allow supply air to flow through P-l to retract thecutting head moving cylinder 27. This will draw the blade downwardly. Atthis same time, pressure flowing through this same port will actuate theclamping piston 41 driving the clamping element 44 onto the vane V topositively hold the same. As the cylinder 27 is retracting, theoperative cam 25a carried thereby is disengaged from valve 60. Valve 60is a three way normally closed valve and air from the gauge cylinder 54is now allowed to bleed through the exhaust port of valve 60 allowingthe internal spring 54 thereof to move the valve 56 rearwardly frommaterial engaging position therefore allowing the sheared material to befree to fall out of the machine after it is sheared. As the blade movingcylinder 27 reaches the end of its stroke, the cam 25a will actuatevalve 61, this valve being a three way normally closed pilot. As thisvalve 61 opens, supply air flows through it and shifts the position ofthe main valve 65. Air then flows through P-2 of valve 65 and returnsthe cutting cylinder 27 to its upward position while simultaneouslyretracting the clamping piston 41 and when the cam 25a carried by thecutting head driving cylinder reaches the valve 60 it will actuate thevalve causing it to open and thereby allowing air to be suppliedtherethrough to the piston 54 to again extend the switch 56 into properposition to receive and be actuated by new material.

It should be obvious that applicant has provided a new and uniquematerial shearing device particularly directed to shearing hollow vaneswithout distorting the same.

What I claim is:

1. A shearing device for shearing hollow vanes, including:

a. a mounting frame;

b. a shearing head including a shearing blade and means having apiercing end and'tapering rearwardly for moving said blade through andfrom a shearing area;

c. a pair of spaced blade receiving members arranged said sensing meansfrom material contacting position whereby material is free to drop fromsaid shearing area after shearing.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and length indicating andmeasuring means mounted ori said frame, said sensing means being carriedadjustably thereon.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 and material sup porting means onsaid frame in alignment with said shearing area on the side of saidblade opposite said sensing means for supporting material in saidshearing area.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3 and said material supporting meansbeing substantially V-shaped.

5. The structure set forth in claim 1 and spaced support means arrangedon said frame in position to support and carry said spaced bladereceiving members.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5 and said spaced support meansbeing spaced from one another a distance greater than the spacingbetween said blade receiving members.

7. The structure set forth in claim 1 and said circuit means including apair of shearing blade portion sensing means shifting said sensing meansfrom material contacting position upon activation of one of said pairand returning said sensing means to material contacting position uponactivation of the other of said pair.

1. A shearing device for shearing hollow vanes, including: a. a mountingframe; b. a shearing head including a shearing blade and means having apiercing end and tapering rear-wardly for moving said blade through andfrom a shearing area; c. a pair of spaced blade receiving membersarranged respectively on either side of said shearing area and allowIngsaid blade to pass therebetween, said blade receiving members beingsubstantially V-shaped; d. sensing means shiftably mounted on said framein alignment with said shearing area to abut with material insertedtherein in a first position and retractable therefrom out of materialcontacting position in a second position; and, e. means cooperativeassociated with said sensing means including control means actuatingsaid blade moving means in response to material abutting with saidsensing means and thereafter shifting said sensing means from materialcontacting position whereby material is free to drop from said shearingarea after shearing.
 2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and lengthindicating and measuring means mounted on said frame, said sensing meansbeing carried adjustably thereon.
 3. The structure set forth in claim 1and material supporting means on said frame in alignment with saidshearing area on the side of said blade opposite said sensing means forsupporting material in said shearing area.
 4. The structure set forth inclaim 3 and said material supporting means being substantially V-shaped.5. The structure set forth in claim 1 and spaced support means arrangedon said frame in position to support and carry said spaced bladereceiving members.
 6. The structure set forth in claim 5 and said spacedsupport means being spaced from one another a distance greater than thespacing between said blade receiving members.
 7. The structure set forthin claim 1 and said circuit means including a pair of shearing bladeportion sensing means shifting said sensing means from materialcontacting position upon activation of one of said pair and returningsaid sensing means to material contacting position upon activation ofthe other of said pair.